On a night like tonight
by someobscurereference
Summary: Stiles begins to freak out about his dangerous life and has a panic attack. Luckily Derek's in the area and helps him calm down.


**I wrote this in between episodes 10 and 11 of season 2 and was really kinda freaked out when Stiles started acting like this in the last two episodes. So no, this isn't influenced by that, but I like to think it worked out quite well. I marked this as complete, but I could always continue it if you guys like it. So lemme know what you think!**

Stiles' face darkens as he looks out the window at the approaching storm clouds. These kind of clouds always gave him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Everytime he saw clouds like these something bad happened. Of course, bad things happened to Stiles an awful lot. Werewolf attacks and temporary paralyzation are just two things in the bag of crazy that is his life.

Most recently though, his dad was hurt during a fight between Derek's pack and Peter Hale. Now, all Stiles could think about while sitting in his room was his dad limping downstairs with his torn-up leg and broken arm. Things had only gotten worse for his dad now that he knew about Scott's lycanthropy.

Usually Stiles was the confident one of the group. He led Scott around with his classic sarcasm and fearlessness. But Stiles wasn't fearless. In fact, he was terrified most of the time. He just had to keep a brave face on for Scott.

But hasn't Stiles done enough? He helped Scott with pack problems and the Alpha earlier when this whole thing started and now he's chasing kanimas and facing psycho killers all the while leading his idiot of a best friend down the right path. All of this terrible stuff happens to Stiles just because he's the clever best friend of a teen wolf.

Well, Stiles had had enough. He had had enough near-death experiences and threats on his life. He was through with Argents and werewolf packs and kanimas. Stiles moves quickly around his room as his mind fills with terrible thoughts. His heart races at the thought of his friends dying over all this or his dad being hurt even more than he is already. He just…couldn't…take it. Then suddenly Stiles' heart is pounding too fast and he can't breathe and he's gasping, gasping, gasping, when… BAM! someone's now in Stiles' room coming towards him.

"Hey. Hey!" a voice shouts as Stiles begins to fall to his knees. Derek catches him before he falls on his face. "Shh.. It's okay," Derek whispers reassuringly as he pulls Stiles closer.

But Stiles doesn't want to be close to anyone. He wants to scream and his body wants to run and explode and shake and he can't stay still but he can't move and he just keeps grabbing at Derek's shirt and kicking him to get away but he can't figure out why. His brain his on fire, going to war with itself. Everything is too sudden and Stiles wants desperately to stop freaking out but he's crying now and he can't stop.

"I can't… I can't do it anymore," he gasps.

Derek just holds him close and whispers, "Calm down, Stiles. You're having a panic attack."

Stiles shakes and sobs in Derek's arms until finally he takes a deep breath and calms down. The adrenaline wears off and he realizes that he's curled up in Derek's arms so he slowly loosens his muscles and backs off of Derek. He sits down on the floor across from Derek for a moment before slowly getting up and sitting cross-legged on the very edge of his bed. He moved with the movements of a person who's just lost all their energy. Derek decides not to say anything for a moment as Stiles regains his strength.

"Thanks," Stiles says quietly, looking at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Derek asks, looking at Stiles intently.

"Yeah, I just… got a little fed up, I guess."

"It happens," Derek replies as he gets up from the floor.

Stiles looks at Derek, "I don't know if I can do this anymore, Derek."

"What?"

"This!" Stiles voice raises slightly, "This whole thing. The wolves and the kanimas and the hunters. My life was wonderfully average just a few months ago! I can't take it anymore! I can't keep putting on a brave face while things are trying to kill me!"

"But if you don't do it, who will?" Derek asks.

Stiles looks at the ground.

"Go ahead and quit Stiles. But they need you; Scott especially. He won't last one day without your guidance. I know it sometimes seems like the world is crumbling down around you, but I took you for the kind of person who could put the pieces back together after everything went to shit."

The two of them stood in silence for a moment as Derek's words rang around Stiles' head.

"I know you have a lot of weight on your shoulders, but we need you, Stiles." Derek says softly as their eyes connect.

Stiles sighs, "I know."

Derek smiles a tiny smile for about two seconds then heads for the window he came in through.

"Wait," Stiles shouts, "How did you know I was having a panic attack?"

"I could hear your heartbeat rising from where I was."

"And where were you?"

"In the woods."

Stiles studies Derek's face for a moment before replying, "Were you stalking me?"

"No!" Derek replies, taken aback.

Stiles keeps squinting at him, as if trying to literally see through his lie.

"Maybe," Derek admits.

Stiles smiles a little, he got him. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why were you stalking me?"

Derek scratches his head and looks at the floor.

"Oh my god!" Stiles exclaims, whispering slightly, looking at Derek's guilty face.

"What?" Derek asks, puzzled at Stiles' outburst.

"You have a little werewolf crush on me, don't you?"

"What? No!" Derek exclaims, trying to keep his cheeks from turning red.

"You totally do!" Stiles smiles widely at the 'big bad wolf' getting all flustered and embarrassed.

"I should go," Derek mumbles as he begins to stick his leg out the window.

"No!" Stiles stops him, hopping off his bed towards him, reaching out. He puts his hand down and his eyes connect with Derek's. "Stay,"

Derek slowly climbs back into Stiles' room, more than a little confused. They both step towards one another until they're only a foot apart.

"But you're not…" Derek's sentence trails as his assumption becomes a little less clear.

"Gay?" Stiles finishes. "You'd be surprised who's gay nowadays."

Stiles breaks the invisible wall between them and leans up on his tippy toes to pull Derek into a kiss. Stiles stretches his arms around Derek's neck to keep his balance.

At first Derek tenses at the younger boy's actions, but then he slowly melts into it. Derek wraps his arms around Stiles like he did not too long ago but this time it's completely different. It's not chaotic. It's not a struggle. It's calm and smooth.

They're still kissing when Stiles' dad open the door. "Stiles I'm going to bed…" Stiles' dad pauses at the sight of his son kissing a previously suspected murderer. Who is also a 25 year old man. Who is also a werewolf.

"Uh…dad!" Stiles says, embarrassed and trying to come up with an explaination.

Stiles' dad just raised his good hand, "I don't wanna know, I'm goin' to bed."

He then closes the door and shuffles down the hall. Derek and Stiles stare at the door then look at each other before exhaling.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Stiles." Derek says as he climbs out the window and disappears into the rain.

"Yeah," Stiles sighs, "See you tomorrow."


End file.
